Unicorn Library: I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

“I love the smell of old bookstores—paper, knowledge, and probably mildew.”

3 years ago

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In this episode we review I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

----Trigger Warning- The book we are reviewing this week mentions death, self-harm, suicide, sexual encounters, and rape.

Spoiler Alert - In reviewing this book there might be spoilers. You have been warned.

A brief summary: Julia is 15, she wants to be a writer, she prefers dark clothing, and reading by herself at family gathering. Julia is smart and wants more out of life and is not afraid to question authority much to the distress of her immigrant parents. Life has not been easy for Julia but at least she had her older sister, the perfect Mexican daughter (and buffer) Olga…that’s until she dead. Now with Olga gone and Julia left to not only deal with her own grief but her parents as well. She slowly pieces together that perhaps she never really knew her sister…maybe she wasn’t perfect.

We hope you have your library card ready because the Unicorns are doing a book review this week!! I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, a young adult novel written by Erika L. Sánchez was suggested to us by a listener (thanks Diana). For more information about the author feel free to watch an interview with Erika L. Sánchez linked down below.

In this episode we share the importance of reading lecture by POC and the effect that has on our “empathy muscles”. After giving a brief summary (trying not to give away too many spoilers) we crack into our initial thoughts, highlights, themes, characterizations, and are challenges.

A few of the theme we discuss are:

Greif
“Coming of age”
Family loyalty
Family trauma
Mother/Daughter relationship (what makes a “good” Mexican daughter vs. a “bad” Mexican daughter)
Mental Health

As we close our first book review, we also examine the relationship between Julia and the white characters in the story. If you’ve read this book please let us know your thoughts, we’d love to hear them!! Our contact information is down below.

We close with our lovely happy places hint it’s spooky AND refreshing.

Interview with Erika L. Sánchez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrwdkNmaHAo.

Thanks to Josef Scott of Citizens of Tape City for our theme music and Dollipop Art for our podcast artwork - you can find her on instagram @dollipop.art.

We want to hear from you! If you have a question you'd like us to answer or a topic you'd like us to cover on the show, drop us a line at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at (505) 585-1808.

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